TENNIS in DEPTH.

Justine Henin’s comeback continued to gather pace on Wednesday as she knocked fifth seed Elena Dementieva out of the Australian Open.

The former champion prevailed 7-5 7-6 (8/6) in an error-ridden contest on the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, clinching victory after two hours and 50 minutes on court.

Henin, a former world number one, only returned to the WTA Tour earlier this month after 20 months in retirement but she hardly looked like she had ever been away.

Neither player was able to hold serve, not unusual for Dementieva, but if Henin expects to win the title she will have to serve at better than 35%. She was also visible exhausted after two sets, and had Dementieva prevailed in the second set it would have been doubtful whether Henin could have put up much resistance in a third set.

As I watched this match on ESPN early in the morning, it seemed to me that I was watching a different match to the one being described by the TV commentators. It was not a great exhibition of tennis! It was not one of the greatest Women’s contests, and it certainly wasn’t the earmark stepping stone to the title for Henin. All the match had was drama!

After some lengthy opening games, it was Henin who claimed the first break of serve to lead 2-1 but Dementieva hit straight back – something she did for a second time later in the set.

However, after Henin saved two set points at 4-5, she broke the Russian for a third time in the 11th game and this time she was able to hang on to her serve and take the opening set.

In the second set, the pattern was reversed. This time it was Dementieva who twice forged a break ahead but on each occasion the famously dogged Henin hit back.

As the players combined some superb winners with some bad errors, it looked like the fifth seed had missed her chance when Henin broke to lead 5-4 but when match point arrived in the following game Henin netted with what was a tight-looking forehand.

Dementieva levelled at 5-5 but Henin soon had another chance to serve out at 6-5.

However, perhaps understandably given her time away from the circuit, Henin again struggled to close out and a tie-break ensued.

In it, Dementieva was unable to convert a set point at 6-5 and when Henin won the next point too, she had her second match point.

This time there was to be no mistake, the Belgian coming to the net to put away a volley to book her place in the last 32 where she will face 27th seed Alisa Kleybanova.

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Justine Henin faces Elena Dementieva after making a winning return to Grand Slam tennis on Monday.

The former world number one, who recently returned to the WTA Tour after 20 months in retirement, was not at her best but was still good enough to claim a 6-4 6-3 victory over her Belgian compatriot Kirsten Flipkens in Melbourne.

She will next face fifth seed Dementieva, who recorded a ruthless 6-2 6-1 victory over Vera Dushevina.

Playing her first Grand Slam match for two years, Henin grabbed an early break of serve, but Flipkens hit back in game eight to level at 4-4.

However, Henin responded immediately with a second break and then served out the set.

The second set followed a similar pattern, Henin racing 2-0 ahead before Flipkens squared things at 2-2.

As in first set that seemed to sharpen Henin’s focus and she restored her two-game advantage to lead 4-2 and from there pushed on to book her place in the last 64.

Henin was not particularly happy with her display, admitting she had struggled after spending hours in the locker room following earlier rain delays.

“It wasn’t that easy because there wasn’t a lot of rhythm. So I was feeling a bit with no energy at the beginning, you know, after the long wait.

“Slowly but surely in the second set I started to be a bit more aggressive, and I think I was better at the end.”

On the plus side, the Belgian said she was not bothered by leg and foot complaints that she had been suffering from of late.

She will probably have to improve if she is to beat Dementieva though.

The Russian continued her flying start to the season – she won the title in Sydney last week – as she cracked 23 winners past a bewildered Dushevina on the Hisense Arena.

Looking ahead to playing Dementieva, Henin added: “She’s number five in the world so it’s going to be a great challenge for me to play that kind of match very early in the tournament.

“I think, of course, it’s a tough draw. But in a grand slam every match is difficult. I love to play the top players. I know I’ll have to be at a very high level.”

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Elena Dementieva served notice of her Australian Open intent with a thumping win over world number one Serena Williams in the final of the Medibank Sydney International.

Dementieva has so often been the nearly woman of the WTA Tour, racked by nerves on the big stage, but the signs have been increasingly encouraging.

She pushed Williams all the way in the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year and on Friday she was simply too strong and too consistent for an erratic top seed.

Dementieva took an early lead and, although Williams broke back, she then slipped 5-3 behind and there was no way back as the fifth seed recorded a 6-3 6-2 victory.

It was Dementieva’s fifth win from 12 meetings with her fellow 28-year-old and gave her a 15th WTA Tour title.

Williams appeared to struggle with a left leg problem during the match but insisted the defence of her Australian Open crown is not in doubt.

“I was struggling a little bit but I hate to make any excuse,” said the American. “I think she definitely deserves all the credit for what she did.

“(It’s) definitely not ligament problems – definitely not. I don’t quite know (what the problem is), just a little pain here and the strapping usually helps the pain go away.

“I feel great. I feel like I have more than enough matches under my belt. I feel like I’m really ready and fit and I feel like I’m actually playing well even though I didn’t play great today.”

Dementieva, meanwhile, hailed her successful title defence as the perfect preparation for next week’s Melbourne grand slam.

“I’m very satisfied the way I was playing today and the whole week,” she said.

“That’s what I was really looking for coming here in Sydney, just playing aggressively and playing with a lot of pressure.

“It’s just great to have a chance to play against the best players in the world this week, especially coming to the grand slam, so hopefully it’s going to help me next week.”

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Serena Williams rallied from a set and 5-2 down to beat Avarane Rezai 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 and move into a Sydney International final against defending champion Elena Dementieva.

Rezai was serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set Thursday but reigning Australian Open champion Williams won the next five games to even it and go a break up in the third.

Rezai of France recovered breaks in the first and seventh games of the third set but Williams broke her to lead 5-4 and then served it out.

“Cool … finally,” she said, relishing the opportunity to gain match fitness in her first tournament of the year.

“That was good because she played really hard, like a top player. That was really good preparation.”

Williams, winner of 11 Grand Slam singles titles, will play Friday against Olympic champion Dementieva, who beat sixth-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-3, 6-1.

“I expect a tough match. She’s a great champion,” Dementieva said of Williams. “I just hope it’s going to be a good match for both of us, and good preparation for the Open.”

Rezai, a 22-year-old who is ranked 27th and won two WTA titles last year, felt she wasted an opportunity to beat Williams.

“For me, she was not too impressive,” Rezai said. “Of course she’s a good player, of course I respect her. But I could have won today. I wasn’t impressed.

“Probably it was more difficult for her to play against me. I know she’s a fighter but I am also a fighter.

“Today I lost. Probably next time I will win.”

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Top-ranked Serena Williams advanced to the semifinals at the Sydney International with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Vera Dushevina of Russia on Wednesday.

Williams, playing her only warmup tournament ahead of her attempted title defense at the Australian Open, next plays France’s Aravane Rezai, who had a 6-3, 6-0 win over Italian Flavia Pennetta.

She said the strong breeze was a relief after a hot opening win here, although experiencing both conditions was a good test before the season’s first major starts Monday at Melbourne Park.

“It was really windy out there, but it’s good to have a good result in the wind,” she said. “I definitely don’t think I played my best, but that’s comforting to know that today wasn’t my best.”

No. 2 Dinara Safina was no match for Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva, as she lost 6-2, 6-3. Dementieva  will meet sixth-seeded Victoria Azarenka, who advanced 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 over Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova.

On the men’s side, Lleyton Hewitt started his bid for a fifth Sydney title with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Italian Andreas Seppi, reaching the quarterfinals with one 55-minute victory.

Former top-ranked Hewitt won six straight games, then overcame an early service break in the second set and won six straight games to finish when Seppi double-faulted at match point.

Fourth-seeded Hewitt, a former U.S. Open and Wimbledon champion, evened his career head-to-head matchups at 2-all with Seppi.

“I’ve had match points against him and ended up losing – that scoreline today looks a lot better,” Hewitt said.

Hewitt next plays 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis, who ousted sixth-seeded Viktor Troicki of Serbia 7-5, 6-3.

Another Australian advanced to the quarterfinals when Peter Luczak had an upset 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over second-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic.

Also advancing were Frenchmen Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet – who beat eighth-seeded Benjamin Becker of Germany 6-2, 7-6 (4) – and American Mardy Fish, a 6-1, 6-2 winner over Russia’s Evgency Korolev.

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Svetlana Kuznetsova has edged her way into the second round of the Medibank International Sydney after a hard-fought three-set win over fellow Russian Alisa Kleybanova.

The number three seed, prevailed 6-4 6-7 7-5 in almost two-and-a-half hours on Ken Rosewall Arena after coming back from 3-0 down in the deciding set.

The reigning French Open champion said she was pleased to have survived her opening match.

“I was down 0-3 but I pushed back when I needed most and it worked for me. I played good at the important moments in the third set,” she said.

“She [Kleybanova] started to play definitely better, she started to serve better and it was difficult for me. I was a little bit laid back, perhaps I was waiting a little bit too much for her and made unforced errors and then going for my shots, I think that was a mistake.”

Kuznetsova, who will play either Dominika Cibulkova or a qualifier in the second round, said it was important to win today to kick off her Australian summer.

“I need some matches, I am happy in some way to play a long match today,” she said.

“It’s not good for me not to close [out the match] when I have too but to have a long fight it’s also good because you play lots of points and you get adjusted to the court and get tested.

“In Australia, with the heat it gets really soft and sometimes with the wind it’s very tough to play and it’s good to play a three-setter.”

Earlier, Daniela Hantuchova was the first player to reach the second round with a comfortable victory over Virginie Razzano.

The unseeded Slovakian cruised past the French world No.19 6-3 6-0 in under an hour to set up a meeting with fifth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva.

Hantuchova, who was knocked out in the quarterfinals of last week’s Brisbane International, broke Razzano’s serve on five occasions throughout the first main draw match on Ken Rosewall Arena.

Reigning champion Elena Dementieva, who beat Kuznetsova in last year’s final, won the third and final match on centre court today against Italy’s Francesca Schiavone 6-2 7-5.

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GREAT Britain, Russia and Kazakhstan are all a chance of earning the right to play Spain in the Hyundai Hopman Cup XXII Final coming into Session 10’s double-header.

On Centre Court, Great Britain’s Laura Robson and Andy Murray can book their place with a win over Russia’s Elena Dementieva and Igor Andreev.

However, a Russian win would send the cat amongst the pigeons leaving the Russians and Brits to battle out via calculations, and Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova and Andrey Golubev could join them in the mix with a win over the out of contention German team of Sabine Lisicki and Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Following Wednesday night’s game it would appear that Great Britain will beat Russia. On Wednesday night Russia lost to Asian Hopman Cup winners Kazakhstan 1-2 in the Tie, but with a team of world No. 5 Elena Dementieva and No. 35 Igor Andreev, the second-seed Russians will be keen to keep alive its Final hopes.

Great Britain has yet to lose a Tie with Murray winning all his singles and then the mixed doubles with youngster Laura Robson. The two will be playing on Centre Court while Germany and Kazakhstan will be on Court 1.

Robson is looking forward to her match against Russian sensation Dementieva and the 15-year-old is confident she can play better tennis this year.

“Well I can still improve on everything. The match was a lot better than on Monday,” Robson said.

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